Reign vs. Angel City: Highlights, stats, quotes

Following a big road win against the North Carolina Courage, Seattle Reign traveled to Los Angeles to face Angel City FC. Unfortunately, the team wasn't able to press Angel City effectively and couldn't gain control of the ball — and the Reign ultimately lost 2-1 in their road match.

Alyssa Thompson and rookie Riley Tiernan scored for Angel City, while Ji So-yun slotted in a penalty for the Reign.

Defeated at last: Reign fall 2-1 to Angel City

The undefeated streak is over as the Reign concede early in each half.

Sounder at HeartJune Ash Eden

The Reign now have a chance to get healthy during this FIFA international window. Elevent Reign players will be at senior and youth national team camps this week, while players like Jordyn Huitema and Lynn Biyendolo have a chance to focus on their recovery.

When the Reign (1-1-1) return to action next week, they'll host the Orlando Pride (3-0-0) at Lumen Field on Saturday, April 12. That match kicks off at 4:30 p.m. PT and will air on ION TV.

Highlights

Stats

SCORING SUMMARY

8' - Alyssa Thompson (Assisted by Kennedy Fuller) - ACFC

12' - Ji So-yun (penalty) - SEA

63' - Riley Tiernan (Assisted by Claire Emslie) - ACFC

LINEUPS

60' - Shae Holmes for Emily Mason; Emeri Adames for Ana Maria Crnogorcevic; Nérilia Mondésir for Sam Meza

82' - Olivia Van der Jagt for Maddie Mercado

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64' - Julie Dufour for Claire Emslie; Macey Hodge for Katie Zelem

73’ - Miyabi Moriya for Gisele Thompson

90+4' - Christen Press for Riley Tiernan; Madison Hammond for Savy King

POSSESSION

Angel City: 58%

Reign: 42%

EXPECTED GOALS

Angel City: 1.02

Reign: 1.29

TOTAL SHOTS

Angel City: 16

Reign: 6

SHOTS ON TARGET

Angel City: 5

Reign: 2

SHOTS OFF TARGET

Angel City: 8

Reign: 3

SHOTS BLOCKED

Angel City: 3

Reign: 1

SHOTS FROM INSIDE THE BOX

Angel City: 13

Reign: 4

TOUCHES INSIDE THE OPP. BOX

Angel City: 48

Reign: 15

PASSES

Angel City: 454

Reign: 326

PASSING ACCURACY

Angel City: 75.8%

Reign: 71.2%

PASSES IN FINAL THIRD

Angel City: 140

Reign: 84

PASSING ACCURACY IN FINAL THIRD

Angel City: 58.6%

Reign: 63.1%

CROSSES (EXCLUDING CORNERS)

Angel City: 13

Reign: 16

CORNERS WON

Angel City: 9

Reign: 1

OFFSIDES

Angel City: 3

Reign: 1

FOULS

Angel City: 8

Reign: 8

YELLOW CARDS

Angel City: 1

Reign: 2

RED CARDS

Angel City: 0

Reign: 0

Quotes

Laura Harvey

On her thoughts about the game:

Yeah, so in the first half, it looked really lethargic, really reactive. We couldn't really get into the game. We had that one early chance from Maddie, but aside from that, it was pretty one-way traffic in that first half. Second half, I thought we came out, we looked a little bit better, we had a little bit of momentum. We had that chance right when the subs came on, and then their goal comes at a really tough time for us and then we just couldn't claw our way back into the game. We lacked a little bit of quality and we didn't win first and second balls and do all those little basic things that you got to do to win games in this league.

On how the team responded defensively to being under pressure:

I thought in the box we defended well, but I just saw the stats. I think they had 48 touches in our box in the whole game. That's because our defending wasn't good enough higher up the field, and we need to solve that. And that's on me. We had a game plan, it didn't work. We needed to change it, we changed it. We got a little bit better. But yeah, I said to the players at the end, I think the biggest thing we've got to do from tonight is learn from it because we can't let this be the thing that defines us. So I think we need to understand why we were the way we were tonight and obviously try and solve it for the next game.

On the energy the subs brought:

Yeah, they just give a different dynamic. I think Coco [Nerilia Mondesir] is technically gifted, strong, powerful, can hold the ball up, can create things in and around the 18-yard box. Emeri [Adames] is really good 1-v-1, has great service from wide areas. So we know that we have that mixture. And I think we've obviously gone with Ana [Maria Crnogorčević] and Maddie [Dahlien] out wide for most games this year. But the aim is that we have six forwards, seven if you include Mercado, that can sort of like, it's which three we need to start, which three we need to come on, how we can sort of balance that I think is what we're looking for. And hopefully there'll be a day where I can really choose between all seven, and I can't wait for that.

Phoebe McClernon and Claudia Dickey

On what caused the team to struggle in this game:

McClernon: Yeah, I think it's pretty clear it wasn't good enough today. I think we had breakdowns in every third of the field on both sides of the ball. I just don't think it was good enough. It wasn't up to our standard. I think we're a bit fortunate that we're going into a longer break right now, where we have the opportunity to address a lot of these issues. But yeah, I just think it wasn't to the standard.

Dickey: It's hard to come here and play, and I think we struggled to adjust to that throughout. I think we had moments where it was like we could have had momentum, but I think we kept putting ourselves in difficult situations. I think that's hard to do here. It's hard to do against their forwards. It's hard to do against all the fans, so I think being able to recognize that in the moment in the game is something we need to be better about.

On if this feels like a setback for the team:

McClernon: I don't think that we can look at a loss in our first three games as a setback. I think we need to look at it as an opportunity to fix some things. I think that it's far too early to hang our heads and act like this isn't an incredibly competitive league, and some days it's just not going to be your day. I think with that being said, there's going to be some hard conversations and we're going to have to be really honest about some things. But no, I think it's an opportunity.

Dickey: I think it's hard after losses. It hurts, but I think we need to learn so much about ourselves in those situations. Even from the games we've done, we tied and won. I think there's so much to improve on from this team, and you haven't seen the best of us yet. And I think this is just another, kind of like Phoebe said, it's nice to have the break to reset and focus on all the things that we need to, whereas I feel like back-to-back games, it's hard to get that time in. So I think it'd be good, but I don't really think it's a setback. Obviously, everybody's upset about it, annoyed because no one wants to lose, but it's also, there's so much room for improvement now.